Baked Brussels Sprouts w/Parmesan Cheese – Haters to Lovers

This is an open letter to anyone whose never quite caught on to the delicacies of brussels sprouts. I urge you or anyone you know who hates brussels sprouts to make this baked brussels sprouts gratin recipe because it will make any haters into lovers. I am *almost* so convinced this dish will be a hit on your holiday table that I’m willing to *almost* bet something on it! Let me go through my valuables and see what I can lay down as a bet and we have a deal.

I love that fact that I can eat a whole bowl of these bite size heads of cabbage as a full meal and know that I’ve had a years worth of my vitalizing digestive vitamins (if you know what I mean). Now in a utopian world, everyone would be munching on these brussels sprouts like candy, but unfortunately, I know of many haters who wouldn’t touch these with a ten-foot-chopstick.

I’m completely understanding of the distance that my brussels-sprout-boycotting friends keep from these scary green heads, so I’m always thinking of different ways to prepare them to help bring them over to the better, loving side. Brussels sprouts can be very cruciferous smelling (phew!) but when prepared with the right ingredients, they can be eaten like candy.

Lather cheese mixture over brussels sprouts, but save the good loose leaves for a salad later!

Todd makes a wonderful roasted brussels sprouts recipe with balsamic vinegar and I have a baked version that is equally, or maybe even more amazing only because my recipe has cheese in it! It’s a variation off my humbly famous baked sweet onion dip I wrote about last year with chunks of tender brussels sprouts as the main ingredient.

Granted, brussels sprouts baked to perfect tenderness in an oven, and lathered with parmesan cheese, mayo and more gut expanding love isn’t the healthiest alternative. But I’m of the opinion that a girl like me needs my occasional doses of cheesy indulgence and treating myself to a dish of baked brussels sprouts gratin with cheese is the perfect way to splurge.

For this holiday season, or any eating occasion for that matter, you must make this brussels sprouts gratin dish! It’s so fast, easy and most importantly, brussels sprouts haters will gobble these up in an instant. When baked slowly in the oven, the brussels sprouts become sweet, tender and fabulous. Just assemble the simple ingredients together, put them in a baking dish and forget about them for about the next 45 min. to 1 hour.

What appears later out of the oven is pure sweet, cheesy, fragrant, brussels sprouts bliss. This brussels sprouts recipe will turn all dissenters into lovers, gar-on-teed!

enjoy & celebrate cruciferous veggies,

diane

Note on cooking times: Brussels sprouts can very tremendously in size, ranging from the size of a large egg to as small as a 5-cent coin. Make sure to adjust your cooking times depending on the size that you end up cooking. Also, try to select all the same sizes for consistent cooking.

Baked Brussels Sprouts Recipe with Parmesan Cheese

Yield:3-4

Cook Time:1 hr

Note on cooking times: Brussels sprouts can very tremendously in size, ranging from the size of a large egg to as small as a 5-cent coin. Make sure to adjust your cooking times depending on the size that you end up cooking. Also, try to select all the same sizes for consistent cooking.

Bake uncovered for remaining 15-20 minutes, or until brussels sprouts are tender and until the cheese topping becomes a nice charred crust. Poke with a fork till they are cooked to you desired tenderness.

*when serving, don't forget to scrape the bottom of the dish for the browned, charred cheese! that's the BEST part.

*** update: Doreen (from comments) used a casserole dish, which was probably deeper and had to cook the brussels sprouts for longer. So if you use a deeper dish, then increase your cooking time. If you use a shallow dish like I did , then the dish cooks quicker. And, probably crispier too with a nice charred crust!

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Recipe Note for Salt: All recipes containing salt are based on kosher or sea salt amounts, not table salt. If using table salt, reduce the amount used to taste.

Hi guys,
Just letting you know I included this recipe today for my weekly Low-Carb Recipe Love on Friday post featuring brussels sprouts! (I leave these comments partly so I will know I have featured this recipe in case I come across it again!) Hope a lot of my readers will enjoy trying it!

Always on the look out for a recipe for sprouts to convince my “hater” husband. Most of the family really liked these – husband still on the fence!!! We felt that it could use a little less mayo and cream cheese, a little more parm, definitely leave in oven until crust is charred (sprouts seem to really hold up to dry heat cooking) and top with a squeeze of lemon juice.

Made this for a Christmas gathering at my house and it was the big hit! Got another bunch of brussel sprouts to make more this weekend! Love this recipe and the brown cheese on the bottom is definitely a wonderful find in your pile of brussel sprouts!

Hi! Just had to let you know that I did make these and we all loved them! I also posted about them today on my blog – hope that’s okay with you. Thanks for sharing…I’m off to the treadmill yet again! Nan

I made this last night, softening the cc by putting it in a sauce pan and leaving it in the oven for 15 minutes or so. It was totally delicious. I think I’m going to have to try this with potatoes. it really is very very tasty. Thanks for the recipe and the melting advice

Clive- If it’s a warm day, leaving the cc out at room temperature for a few hours can help it soften. Or, once you preheat the oven, place the cream cheese in an oven proof dish, then in the oven for a few minutes. The key is getting the cream cheese really soft so that it blends evenly with the mayo and parmesan.
Sometimes if the cc isn’t soft enough, you’ll get clumps of cc in the mixture.
Hope this helps!

Doreen – thank you for the note about the deep casserole dish. these definitely cook better in a shallow dish, so that the cooking becomes more even. We’ll make an extra note of that in the recipe. Thanks!

I made this last night and had the leftovers for lunch … delicious! I didn’t have any parmesan cheese so I substituted asiago – and made the mistake of baking them in a casserole dish – they didn’t brown at all on the bottom and took much longer to cook – so next time I make this it will be in a shallow dish … very very good!

Ah… I am one of those brussels sprouts haters I guess, although lately I have been thinking about giving them another try and this might just be the thing for me since I am huge cheese lover… I might just go wild and try it out! I’ll let you know if I have been converted to a lover!

I can’t fathom anyone not liking brussels sprouts. When you’ve added the cheese factor; not to mention the mayo and onion, how can you go wrong? It looks amazing and is something I think I’ll have to make very soon!

Awww! Just watched your video of your trip to your dads!! How special you made the video. I’m in love with Rascal! And I think I’m in love with that onion dip as well! Thanks for a Saturday morning smile!

Fabulous! This is a completely new recipe to me. And I’ve seen loads of brussels sprouts recipes, one of our favorite veggies. In fact, got them on my mind, we had an amazing brussels sprouts dish at the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival dinner, roasted with ponzu fried garlic, guanciale, and bonito flakes.
LL

Great post and perfect timing! I love brussels sprouts and have been trying to convince the “haters” how great they can be when done right. The “haters” are coming to my house for dinner tomorrow night, and are now going to be surprised with your brussels sprouts recipe!

I’m going to take the bet – whatever it is – on behalf of my mister who hates brussel sprouts…I’ll make this tonight and report back…if HE even as much as eats ONE bite I’ll send you my first born…along with my second…and the dog, unless you’ll just call it good and know that the Earth will have shifted off center as it will be a dramatic, and probably a traumatic event! If he still hates the little “bee-esses” I’ll happily collect my winnings when you come to Seattle to teach something – anything! xo, Nan

I am right up there with being a hater. I recently had some that were wok cooked and they were delicious. Being a butter-ball girl, I love cheese on everything, may have to add this dish to our Thanksgiving menu and give them another chance! Sounds & looks amazing!

I myself am a lover, and I definitely have to try this recipe. I am laughing though, at the need for all us Belgiophiles to proselytize to the unconverted — I made a sprouts recipe with the same end. Soon all the world will love brussels sprouts, and then we will be moderately more healthy than before! Mwahahaha!

Oh, yummy! I have not had much time to visit blogs lately, but what fun to come here after a longish time and find such a wonderful recipe! I have always loved Brussels sprouts, and I love the English name of this vegetable, too! 🙂 So much so that I have been known to inadvertently translate it literally into Finnish when speaking. That has sometimes brought some confusion as the right Finnish word for B. sprouts has nothing to do with Brussels, but with roses. 😉

Brussels sprouts are the vegetable you want to love, because botanically and aesthetically they are so beautiful. I recently bought a stalk, because it looked so amazing. There are lots of Brussels sprouts recipes out there, but I found out not everyone will turn the haters to lovers. Can’t wait to try yours!

This dish looks absolutely fantastic. I’m considering baking some up tonight as a side for the Edwardo’s pizza that will be ordered.
One question; is the mayonaise necessary? If it works food genie magic and does something to hold the dish together I don’t mind it. Otherwise mayonaise is ick in the eyes of my family.
Thank you 🙂

I’m used to my mom’s usual spin on brussels sprouts, which involves a saute in loads of butter and a few tosses of caraway seeds. How dreamy yours must be mellowed with cream cheese and parmesan cheese. I cannot wait to make this recipe.

This sounds wonderful. I already love Brussels sprouts, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be a convert to this recipe. But I know what you mean – when I serve my lima beans cooked in heavy cream, even lima bean haters weep with joy.

I love Brussels sprouts! I have yet to see them here in Japan, but I am always looking… This looks like a great dish and I think my husband would *love* it! I love the first photo in this post. The Brussels sprouts look like tiny, deliciously delicate cabbages…but way better!

I love brussels sprouts too! I didn’t love them as a kid though but my mom got me to eat them by telling me that they were baby cabbages. Somehow that made me like them…I guess I was a pretty easy kid to fool. =/ Cheese would have worked too but I’m not sure my Chinese mom knows how to cook with cheese.

This recipe looks Fantastic! Brussel sprouts are a Must Have tradition on my family Thanksgiving table. Boiled, steamed, sauteed, however you fix them they’re “Good Eats.” Incredibly I have been a brussel sprout lover since childhood myself. Raised a city girl I was only familiar with them as tiny-baby heads of cabbage, already cut and ready to cook, fresh and frozen. Two years ago my husband and I added a few plants to our Fall garden. It’s amazing to watch their growth process as they “sprout” from their baseball bat stalk, and even yummier fresh cut. This looks like a great new variation! Thanks! And Happy Fall!

When I was in culinary school we made brussels sprouts and no one in my class would eat them. I think I ate everyone’s. Clearly, I adore brussels sprouts and have a problem. I just bought some that are still on the branch and I think I found the perfect use for them!

I was clearly a hater until this weekend – at the Foodbuzz Festival in San Francisco I had brussel sprouts from Frog Hollow Farm that were roasted with guanciale, and boy were they good. I think brussel sprouts need a strong flavor – and this recipe of yours looks like it will do just that!

Michele- I heard about that brussels sprouts dish from the FoodBuzz festival! As a matter of fact, some bloggers that we had dinner with tonight raved about that dish. That’s something I’ll have to try to duplicate!